A game of survival, trade and exploration in the universe of Fallen London
Ship Balance Discussion
nauith
Posts: 2
4/22/2015
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I wanted to jot down a few thoughts on ship balance, as I believe it's one aspect of the game that could be reworked to give players more choice. Stop here if you don't want to have high-tier content spelled out. Spoiler tags are used for story-content. Most of the ships I've played around with, but I'm using stats from the wiki for this discussion (just in case there are any inaccuracies there).
Firstly, I see a few different roles among the ships:
Explorers: lighter ships offering greater speed and reduced resource consumption
Traders: heavy ships with a large hold, for, uh, trading...
Warships: ships with thick hulls and increased combat options
Of course, not all ships will clearly fit a single category, but I believe that each ship should be justifiable by performance within these categories, as well as by having acceptable performance in the phase of the game where it becomes available (setting aside the Stymphalos [dining table] class, which appears to be a hardcore option).
The biggest problem I can see is that light ships are arguably slower than other ships due to an inability to equip the Avid Suppressor (Aft) which allows for safe turbos. Leaving their only advantage being resource economy, which may be relevant in the early game -- but is harder to justify in the late game (or on captains with inheritance) where fuel and supplies are pretty easy to come by. Personally I would address this by either being more generous with which ships have an Aft slot; or by allowing high tier engines to mitigate explosion risk as well (or instead).
Moving on to individual ships, I think the Lampad-Class Cutter is a really interesting alternative to the starting ship for players who want a greater focus on exploration relative to trading and combat, however it is priced in such a way that it will possibly only become available at a time when it is no longer useful (+2000 echoes after trade in). I would really like to see this be cheap or free with a trade in.
[spoiler]The story vessel is similarly hard to justify. While difficult to attain, it's key advantage over the Frigate (of the same weight) is cheapness, otherwise it makes a poor trade, gaining a small amount of stats (especially once the Moth is considered), at the cost of a lot of hull and a forward weapon. Personally I'd keep the low-hull but drop it down to 2000 weight and give it a forward weapon.[/spoiler]
Currently, with the Frigate being 'light enough' and turbo-safe, once attainable there can be little justification for lighter vessels, with (in my opinion) the only plausible alternatives being the Cargo Ship, or the bulky Dreadnaught. Personally I'd really like to see light vessels remain strong the whole way through the game.
Some other lesser issues are that it might be nice for aspiring traders to have more than a single ship to upgrade to (although I know zubmarines are in the works), and it might also be nice if certain quests did not require high-cargo vessels to complete (allowing players to keep their light ship all game). Maybe this could be addressed by allowing players to purchase storage lockers at ports which would allow them to drop off materials over time, then hand them in all at once.
But I've spoken enough what do my fellow captains think? 
edited by nauith on 4/22/2015
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Dom_Delouise
Posts: 76
4/25/2015
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For those of you who don't know, NiteBrite is a God Tier Failbetter player, owner of the only Heptagoat known to man or devil, and seeker so wise and depraved that even the bazaar fears her. So, I for one, am buying a steam launch on this advice alone.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/Dom_Delouise
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NiteBrite
Posts: 1019
4/24/2015
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The steam launch is one of the most truely powerful and amazing ships in the game if you know what you are doing. Full immunity to hunger -and- fear? Heck yes! It's probably the most efficient ship in the game to use starting out for exploring since its maintenance is basically nothing and you can explore like half the map on 2 fuel with the starter engine.
Just be careful when sailing, it's really not that hard to avoid taking any damage. And when you start to have decent stats like in the 60s or above you can start taking out zee monsters in it too. You can even kill Mt Nomad in a steam launch (spoilers video link) no problem as I demonstrated in my 4 hour steam launch only livestream (fighting nomad in the steam launch takes a good amount of veils and about 30 mins, but it is totally possible).
edited by NiteBrite on 4/24/2015
Also because the ship is so small and light it moves -fast-.
edited by NiteBrite on 4/25/2015
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[00:34] <@ortab> NiteBrite's laugh is that of a condemned soul gazing into the abyss.
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http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/Profile/TheBriteModiste
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